When school would get over, it would be like a full tension-released situation.. free for the next two or three months till the next year or college was to start. When you graduate though in India, you’re not looking forward to freedom; you’re looking forward to the job that’s going to imprison you for the next most valuable part of your life. As morbid as this may sound, you actually look forward to it with zeal! I so wanted it too.

With all the tips and the advice in and around, it was overwhelming indeed. As you may have guessed there is no custom made job finding pattern. Sometimes even studying well doesn’t seem to cut it. Well, here’s some more advice.

I tried doing everything by the book you know.. to get my dream job or something close to it. But my story is a bit different. I did everything and nothing to get my first interview. Did you read this line? Everything and nothing..

What you need to do get an interview in a bank or a Financial Institution

For getting an interview:

Pray: if I didn’t pray, it was surely my parents who kept praying. Praying has a calming effect. It’s kind of like throwing the weight of the job search on the almighty. You know he’s going to work behind the scenes somehow. It’s great to do that, but expecting him to email you with a mail saying “Neil, God has the right job for you, APPLY NOW” is foolish. For a while that’s what I expected God to do (A bit of exaggeration).Read More »

Like this:

I had a very enjoyable holiday this month. Dad, Mum, my sister and I usually go to a nearby hillstation for our vacations. But we wanted it to be different this time. So after doing some asking around and making some adjustments here and there, we finally decided to go on a trip to Kerala via Bangalore.

There was a conference that we had to attend in the first week of May, so it made sense to continue with the holiday right after that. We attended it in Bengaluru which also is a tourist spot in the state of Karnataka with all its gardens and lakes. I spent some time with a friend of mine who moved there a few years ago and also the guys I had travelled with for the conference. Did a lot there – bowling, eating, sports etc. Right after we went to one of the closest tourist destinations that is located in what they say is ‘God’s own country’ – Munnar, Kerala.

Munnar is located on the eastern border of Kerala in the district of Idukki and is around 6000 feet above sea level making it one of the highest places in India. A friend of my parent’s had a room made available for us in a hotel quite close to Munnar although not in it. Yet, it was a much better place than almost every hotel located in the heart of the town of Munnar.

When you wake up in the morning, and walk in the chilling cool of the air to the bedroom window, you see a magnificent sight – a whole blanket of clouds stretching out from a little under the hotel (which is on the side of the mountain) till as far as the eye can see. It’s like looking at heaven, with all the clouds as the floor you know? It’s an incredibly awesome sight. And far far away, you see not just one mountain range but two to four and in clear weather even more! The greenery and the blue sky just add to the scenic brilliance of Munnar. In the evening the clouds start moving in towards the mountain, and you can actually see and touch the clouds literally. Like smoke moving across the air, these clouds come rushing in to your room and oh boy are they cold! Visibility is reduced to just a few meters and sometimes you may just feel the occasional rain. It was very good. The beauty and the stillness of the place was so soothing and restful for everyone of us. These experiences are often what you need to understand the awesome power and gentleness of God. I had my ‘God’s country’ experience 😀

After spending about a week there we moved down to earth i.e. sea level to Allappey that is known for its houseboats. The one day trip is on a floating hotel that takes you on a tour of the backwaters of Kerala. Of course it gets boring because the scenery isn’t that much and then there’s the heat and humidity to deal with. But it is an experience in itself. After that a short tour of the city of Cochin via the Jewish Synagogue, Dutch palace etc. and we were on our way home to Mumbai. Thus concluding my family’s longest ever holiday and this being the farthest I’ve been from Mumbai ever.

I’ve put up some pictures of the holiday on my Flickr page right here: do have a look at them and comment on my photography skills! 😉

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It was in college that there was this Lady who came around asking many to sign up for the auditions of this Hollywood movie. A friend and I signed up for it. We didn’t know what where who how was making the movie but we did it for the fun of it.

At the audition place

Gave the audition and it was like they heaved a sigh of relief when we were done. Not out of exasperation but rather because (they said it) we were the better lot they had all week. We were thinking about this role a long time after we left the auditioning place and we were wondering if we could ever land a role like that. It seems that there are auditions happening for it all over India, and even abroad. What are the chances of guys like my pal me and me? Million to one? Hoping to hit the jackpot soon. The lady in charge said that Ang Lee is due in India in a month. So we’ll probably get to know in about two months. Looking forward though.

A good thing about this audition was that it was over in a snap. Just two minutes waiting time. Super cool.